Fingerprince
Fingerprince is the third (or fourth) album by The Residents, recorded between 1974 and 1976 and released on February 15th 1977 on Ralph Records. The album features a number of short, comparatively accessible songs on its first side, with a longer piece, "Six Things To A Cycle", on the second. Fingerprince was initially intended as a "three-sided" album titled Tourniquet Of Roses. This idea was abandoned by the group, and it was released as a regular two-sided LP, with the additional songs seeing released separately as the Babyfingers ''EP in 1979. History ''Fingerprince was compiled by The Residents in 1976, originally under the title Tourniquet of Roses, from recordings dating from 1974 (from their "X Is For Xtra" reel, also containing pieces intended for their Not Available operetta and Vileness Fats film project) up to 1976, including "Six Things To A Cycle", a shortened version of a long piece originally intended by the group as a ballet performance piece but ultimately not produced. Tourniquet of Roses ''was intended by The Residents to be the world's first "three-sided album". This idea was to be made a reality by pressing the album with two separate grooves on its second side, meaning that the final playlist would be determined by where the needle drops on the vinyl. This idea was abandoned due to impracticality, expense, and the discovery that the British comedy group Monty Python had already pioneered this concept in 1973 with their ''Matching Tie And Handkerchief album. In the end, The Residents released only two-thirds of the music on the final version of the album, and in 1979 released the remaining songs on an EP entitled Babyfingers, as a gift to purchasers of the ''Third Reich 'n Roll'' collectors' box, the production of which had then been delayed for two years. Fingerprince and Babyfingers have similar structures: each has one side of shorter, self-contained pieces, with a single longer work on the second side - "Walter Westinghouse" on the EP is a sort of mini-opera, corresponding with the mini-ballet "Six Things To A Cycle" from the album. Guest appearances Fingerprince features contributions from Snakefinger on guitar (on "You Yesyesyes" and "Tourniquet of Roses") and vocals on "Home Age Conversation". Snakefinger would also appear with the group around the time of the recording of the album at their first live performance as The Residents in 1976, where they would premiere snippets of "You Yesyesyes" and "Six Things To A Cycle". "Six Things To A Cycle" features Zeibak on vocals, A. Dekbar on violin, and D. Jackovich and T. Logan on percussion. Release For the CD reissue in 1987, the Tourniquet of Roses track listing was restored, including all of the songs from Babyfingers,'' in their originally-intended running order (excising the short instrumental piece "Monstrous Intro"). This reissue also introduced an updated colored version of the album cover. The 1995 Euro Ralph CD reissue of ''Fingerprince kept the original track order from the vinyl, but included the complete Babyfingers as a bonus 3" CD with the album. Track listing Fingerprince (original vinyl edition, 1977) # You Yesyesyes (2:59) # Home Age Conversation (2:05) # Godsong (3:42) # March de la Winni (0:59) # Bossy (1:02) # Boo Who? (2:51) # Tourniquet of Roses (3:16) # You Yesyesyes Again (2:46) # Six Things To A Cycle (17:44) Tourniquet of Roses (CD reissues, 1987, 1997, 2012) # You Yesyesyes (3:02) # Home Age Conversation (2:05) # Godsong (3:45) # March de la Winni (0:59) # Bossy (1:04) # Boo Who? (2:49) # Tourniquet of Roses (3:21) # Death in Barstow (2:04) # Melon Collie Lassie (2:54) # Flight of the Bumble Roach (2:15) # Walter Westinghouse (8:03) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 1 (2:47) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 2 (1:38) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 3 (2:26) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 4 (3:49) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 5 (4:50) # Six Things To A Cycle: Part 6 (2:17) # You Yesyesyes Again (2:37) pREServed edition (2018) Fingerprince was the third album to be released in the group's pREServed series of remastered and expanded reissues, alongside Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen on 23rd March 2018. The pREServed edition of Fingerprince features the album's original black and white/sepia toned album art, and includes the album in its original sequence, followed by the Babyfingers EP, replicating one possible track listing of the originally intended three-sided version of the album. It also features a second disc with bonus "Finger ephemera" such as the previously unheard 14 minute long track "Leapmus" (recorded in February 1976 and composed by Hardy Fox for his then-wife Nessie Lessons), featuring a number of musical themes which would ultimately be included on Fingerprince, as well as instrumental outtakes from the sessions, 1982 rehearsals of "Godsong" and "Walter Westinghouse", and live versions of tracks dating from 1986 to 2014. Track listing (*) indicates tracks which are previously unreleased. Disc 1 Fingerprince ''(remastered from the original tapes) + Side Three (aka ''Babyfingers) # You Yesyesyes (2:59) # Home Age Conversation (2:05) # Godsong (3:42) # March de la Winni (0:59) # Bossy (1:02) # Boo Who? (2:51) # Tourniquet of Roses (3:16) # You Yesyesyes Again (2:46) # Six Things To A Cycle (17:44) # Monstrous Intro (0:41) # Death In Barstow (2:03) # Melon Collie Lassie (2:52) # Flight of the Bumble Roach (2:14) # Walter Westinghouse (8:05) Disc 2 ''Finger ''Ephemera # Leapmus (February, 1976) (*) (14:36) # Entrance to Crypt (*) (1:10) # Clumsy Climb (*) (1:55) # Piano Dittie (*) (1:21) # You Yesyesyes ('Oh Mummy' Mix) (*) (1:53) # Whoopy Snorp (3:44) # God Song (1982 Rehearsal) (*) (1:33) # Walter Westinghouse (1982 Rehearsal) (*) (6:45) # God Song (Studio Rehearsal) (*) (1:32) # Tourniquet of Roses (Tromso, Inconvenienced, 1986) (*) (2:44) # Walter Westinghouse (Live 1997) (6:24) # Once I Went To Barstow (Live 2011) (4:47) # Melon Collie Lassie (Live 2014) (3:33) # Fingerprince Concentrate (7:52) Liner notes Recorded in 1976, Fingerprince is The Residents' fourth album. However, when it was being recorded it was not called Fingerprince. In 1976 it was called Tourniquet of Roses and was so long that it would have consumed three LP sides. The record company, Ralph Records, insisted that the record be cut back to the standard length of two sides, which was renamed Fingerprince. The remaining side was eventually released in limited numbers as Babyfingers. The two pieces to note here are "Walter Westinghouse" and "Six Things to a Cycle", which is a ballet. The plot outline as provided by The Residents reads: "Man, represented as a primitive humanoid, is consumed by his self-created environment only to be replaced by a new creature, still primitive, still faulty, but destined to rule the world just as poorly". "Walter Westinghouse", on the other hand, is noteworthy as a kind of mini-opera with characters and dialogue interaction, a trend which points towards much of The Residents' later work. Thanks to the convenient length of Compact Discs, we are happy to finally present the original Tourniquet of Roses as it was conceived. True, the title Fingerprince is still on the cover in attempt to prevent confusion, but this is the real thing, folks. Dig it. - The Cryptic Corporation Release history See also * Babyfingers * Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! (live performance) * X Is For Xtra * Leapmus Listen online * [https://open.spotify.com/album/53oJj5PRSvVs2ARtT12EFL?si=0Jqm0_IDRGuZ2g0cAZKd3A Fingerprince (Tourniquet of Roses version) on Spotify] * [https://open.spotify.com/album/4sn1z9yQWmllEZH4KDQeau?si=fggfcZgoS3CvGfto1vfrfw Fingerprince pREServed edition on Spotify] External links and references * Fingerprince at The Residents Historical * Fingerprince at RZWeb * Fingerprinceat Discogs * Fingerprince at Hayabusa Landings * FingerprincepREServed edition at Cherry Red Records Category:Albums Category:Fingerprince Category:PREServed Category:X Is For Xtra